1,700 GNP Employee’s Future Questionable as Company Sold Again

The future is uncertain for up to 1,700 employees of GNP in Cold Spring and Luverne, Minnesota. The company was just sold to a Colorado company.

GNP, the producer of Golden Plump and Just Bare Chicken, employs around 1,700 people between its facilities in Cold Spring and Luverne, Minnesota as well as Arcadia, Wisconsin has been purchased by Pilgrim's Pride Corp, based out of Greeley, Colorado for a price of $350 million.

Pilgrim's Pride already has many facilities operating and it's uncertain if they plan to keep the Minnesota facilities and the near 1,700 employees of GNP. If they were to close the facilities it could be devastating for these central Minnesota communities and their families.

According to the Pilgrim's Pride website, they already have operations in 12 states in the US -

With corporate headquarters located in Greeley, Colorado, we have operations in 12 U.S. states as well as in Mexico and Puerto Rico. We are committed to the 35,000 plus team members who work with us to provide products to foodservice, retail and frozen entrée customers. The company’s primary distribution is through retailers, foodservice distributors and restaurants as well as through the export of chicken products to customers all over the world.

This is the second time in 3-years there's been a sale related to the Golden Plump brand. The Helgeson family, who founded the company, sold to Maschhoffs LLC in 2013.